DATE:
May 27, 2014
TO:
City Council
FROM:
Tony Acosta, Deputy City Manager
SUBJECT:
A RESOLUTION AWARDING A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT TO ROSS/DRULIS/CUSENBERRY ARCHITECTURE, INC. IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($400,000) FOR DESIGN SERVICES RELATED TO THE TEEN CENTER PROJECT, CITY PROJECT NO. 13-11, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS TO SAID PROJECT AS SPECIFIED IN THE PROJECT BUDGET
A resolution has been prepared awarding a professional services agreement to RossDrulisCusenberry Architecture (“RDC”) in an amount not to exceed four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) for design services related to the Teen Center Project (City Project No. 13-11) and appropriating funds to the Project as specified in the proposed Project Budget. Staff recommends that the proposed resolution be approved. BACKGROUND Teen Center Task Force (TCTF) - The Union City Teen Center project has a four-year development history that has been detailed in previous staff reports (see Attachment One for reference). The short version is that a Teen Center Task Force comprised of City Council cochairs, School Board members, City and School District staff, over 50 Union City youth, community members, and representatives of several Non Profit Organizations (NPOs) and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) met for three years (2010-2013) to develop a consensus approach to developing Union City’s first comprehensive Teen (and Family) Center. This consensus resulted in the allocation of $2 million from the City’s share of the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) Measure WW Park Facilities Bond to re-purpose the Charles F. Kennedy Community Center located in Kennedy Park and adjacent to James Logan High School. The decision to take an “adaptive re-use” approach to the development of the Teen Center was made in recognition of the very limited amount of initial funding available for the Teen Center Project, which would necessitate a phased approach to design and construction of the project that is projected to cost between $8-15 million to complete, depending on the final scope of the project design. The Task Force was also clear that the proposed Teen Center, while located adjacent to the Decoto neighborhood, would serve all of Union City’s youth.
Teen Center Project Professional Services Agreement RossDrulisCusenbery Architecture
May 27, 2014
Relation to the Decoto Kids Zone Initiative – as the TCTF was doing its work, the New Haven Unified School District (District) began planning the Decoto Kids Zone Initiative (DKZ), a comprehensive “cradle to college & career” program modeled after the successful Harlem (New York) Children’s Zone. It soon became apparent that the DKZ and the Teen Center Project were natural partners in developing an effective service delivery system for youth and their families. Easily the topic of a separate (and lengthy) staff report, the DKZ has developed into an extensive collaborative with over a dozen agencies ranging from the District and City, to the Fremont Family Resource Center, Alameda County Health Care Services Agency, and many more service providers developing a “wrap around service” model that concentrates on establishing positive educational, individual/family health, behavioral and economic outcomes in the Decoto neighborhood. Funding for the DKZ has been developed from a variety of sources, and the Teen Center Project has been incorporated into the DKZ from a strategic planning perspective and as a recipient of direct funding for youth leadership development (hence the strong representation of Decoto youth on the YLT). Ultimately, programs and services provided through the DKZ are expected to be provided at the Teen Center, thereby helping City staff secure the wide array of programs and services that are expected to be provided at the Teen Center. Youth Leadership Team – one of the most important features of the Teen Center Project (and the TCTF) is the Youth Leadership Team (YLT). City staff, with the assistance of District staff and TCTF members, recruited and interviewed 47 youth from across the City to serve on the YLT. A conscious decision was made to recruit younger youth (12-14 years old) who would be able to participate for a minimum of two years on the YLT and who would still be around when Phase One of the Teen Center Project is dedicated and begins operating; this meant that middle school students formed the base for the YLT. The resultant YLT consists of ten (10) youth ranging from the 7th to 11th grade, and attending both middle schools and James Logan High School. Four (4) YLT members live in the Decoto neighborhood, two live in south Hayward (NHUSD attendance area) and the remaining members live all across Union City. The diversity of the City is reflected in the YLT with Hispanic, Filipino, African-American, Indo-American and Caucasian members. In addition to the YLT, four (4) Alternates have been selected, ranging from the 6th to 10th grades, and including a New Haven Adult School student as well as James Logan High School and Cesar Chavez Middle School students. The initial function of the YLT will be to participate in, and advise the Project Architect (and City staff) on, the design of the Teen Center Project. A highly interactive design process has been specified for the Teen Center Project, modeled after the very successful youth-centered process used to design the REACH Ashland Youth Center located in unincorporated Alameda County’s Ashland neighborhood. This process is discussed in more detail below. It is important to note that the initial YLT appointments do not preclude participation from additional youth as the project development process proceeds past design development. In fact, the YLT will be expanded by 50-100% once the design process is
Teen Center Project Professional Services Agreement RossDrulisCusenbery Architecture
May 27, 2014
completed and the programs and operations development phase of the project begins early next year. Ultimately, the youth themselves will decide how large the ongoing Teen Center youth governance council (or whatever they choose to call it) is, and who will serve on the “council”. Architect Selection Process – City staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Teen Center Project Design Services on March 11, 2014 and conducted a “walk-through” of the Kennedy Center on March 21, 2014. Approximately ten (10) architectural firms expressed some interest in the project, and six (6) firms participated in the walk-through. Proposals were due on April 8, 2014. The RFP made it clear that youth participation was a major focus of the design process, and that the project design budget had been developed with specific intent to not only produce specific bid documents for a limited Phase One design, but also a comprehensive detailed schematic design for two (or more) additional phases that would need to be seamlessly integrated into the Phase One design. In other words, even though the City did not have funding to construct all desired Teen Center improvements at this time, an overall design of improvements that might require $6-10 million of additional funding to construct was absolutely essential and required. Staff was also very clear that this schematic “master design” would be used to secure the additional funding needed to complete the project, so it had to be detailed and coordinated such that each phase could stand on its own, yet integrate seamlessly with prior phases. A total of eight (8) firms submitted proposals for the Teen Center Project. After review and scoring of these proposals by City staff, three finalists were selected: • • •
Group 4 Architecture, Research + Planning, Inc. (South San Francisco) LDA Partners LLP (Stockton) RossDrulisCusenberry Architecture, Inc. (Sonoma)
All three finalists had relevant experience in designing teen and/or youth facilities, and all were experienced in using extensive community and youth participation in the design process. Interviews for the three finalists were conducted on April 22-24, 2014, with one firm being interviewed each afternoon. The interview panel consisted of City Staff, DKZ (District) staff, community members, and two YLT members; in order to involve as many YLT members as possible, two different YLT youth participated each of the three days (resulting in six of the ten YLT youth participating), and the interviews were held after school hours on successive days. All three finalists made excellent presentations, and two of the firms used interactive exercises to demonstrate how involvement in the design process might occur; these exercises were very well received by the YLT and other panel members. Ultimately, a consensus was developed by the interview panel that the combination of experience, capability and commitment to the project demonstrated by RDC made them the best choice for the project. The fact that RDC had been the architect for the REACH Ashland Youth Center, had been very successful in engaging youth in that process, and had prepared a detailed evaluation of the Kennedy Community Center’s
Teen Center Project Professional Services Agreement RossDrulisCusenbery Architecture
May 27, 2014
challenges and opportunities in terms of conversion to a teen center resonated strongly with the interview panel. DISCUSSION Project Budget - Staff has prepared a preliminary budget for the Teen Center Project that allocates the $2 million made available to the project by the City Council from Measure WW Park Bond Funds. This preliminary budget is attached to this staff report as Attachment Two. Three features of the preliminary budget are worth noting, as they differ from most construction budgets developed for City projects: •
•
•
Large Design Budget – ordinarily, the design budget for a $2 million project budget would be in the range of $200-240,000 (10-12%), but in recognition of the need to provide a comprehensive schematic design for the ultimate build-out of the Teen Center Project, staff has allocated $400,000 (20%) for initial design work. This also happens to be the maximum allocation that the EBRPD allows for Measure WW funded projects. Large FF&E Budget – the typical allowance for Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment (FF&E) for a construction budget of this size is $100-200,000 (5-10%), but in recognition of the importance of creating as much of a visual and functional transformation of the Kennedy Center as possible, staff has allocated $400,000 (20%) for FF&E. This is a conscious trade-off between structural expansion of the existing building (which is not really feasible given the small overall budget to begin with) and providing the maximum possible visual and programmatic transformation of the existing structure through the use of furniture, fixtures and equipment. Small Construction Budget – the basic construction budget for Phase One of the Teen Center Project has been preliminarily set at $960,000, which means that significant alterations to the existing structure will be unlikely. Based on a preliminary structural assessment of the Kennedy Center by RDC, there may be remedial structural work required; a thorough code compliance review will also be performed and may result in code compliance work being required, as well. The combination of these factors means that the Phase One physical changes to the Kennedy Center will likely involve appearance enhancements and functionally-based improvements to support programs and services that the YLT identifies as most important to Union City’s youth. This is why the preliminary project budget concentrates on FF&E, which can produce the “biggest bang for the buck” in terms of a new look and new functionality for the Teen Center. Physical expansion of the building will have to wait until Phases Two and Three.
Role of YLT and Community Input – as previously noted, the YLT will have a central role in creating the design, programs and governance structures for the Teen Center; they will also be responsible for proposing the Teen Center’s name (subject to City Council ratification, per City policy). RDC has developed a very effective method of design charrettes that involve youth in a variety of ways, creating opportunities for creative expression and input without creating pressure on the youth and without making judgments while doing so. A series of 6-8 design charrettes with the YLT are planned, which may be augmented by field trips to broaden youth awareness of design possibilities. Parents will be invited to attend and observe the charrettes,
Teen Center Project Professional Services Agreement RossDrulisCusenbery Architecture
May 27, 2014
and they will be scheduled at times when youth are available (food will also be provided). Community input is also an integral component of the design process, and periodic community meetings will be conducted to brief the community and City Council on the project and the design process, as well as to solicit ideas and suggestions for the Teen Center. However, it is a central feature of the proposed design process that Union City’s youth have the central role in the design process, as the Teen Center is intended to be for youth, of youth, and “owned by” youth. Recent experience in cities across California has validated this approach in terms of its effectiveness in maximizing attendance and participation by youth, while minimizing negative behaviors. Young people respond best when their community trusts them to “do the right thing”, and they have proven responsible and capable managers of “their facility” when proper support and supervision is provided. FISCAL IMPACT Funds for the proposed professional services agreement (PSA) are available from the City’s Measure WW allocation for the Teen Center Project. The proposed resolution, in addition to authorizing an agreement with RDC in the amount of $400,000 for Teen Center Project Design Services, also empowers the City Manager (or designee) to amend the PSA and project budget as necessary for the successful completion of the design engagement. Finally, the proposed resolution also appropriates funds into the project accounts as needed to ensure timely completion of the project design phase. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council adopt the proposed resolution awarding a professional services agreement to RossDrulisCusenberry Architecture in an amount not to exceed four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) for design services related to the Teen Center Project (City Project No. 13-11), and appropriating funds to the Teen Center Project in accordance with the proposed Project Budget.
Prepared by: Tony Acosta Deputy City Manager Approved by: Larry Cheeves City Manager
